The View From Your Sickbed

by Chris Bodenner

A reader writes:

The most recent story is very much mine, too. I’m 39, and aside from having the HIV virus floating around at undetectable levels in my veins, I’m a completely productive member of society. At the moment I’m a corporate slave to a pretty decent technology company that offers health insurance and other benefits that are about as good quality as you’ll find anywhere. Corporations being what they are, however, I’d like to get off that Gerbil Wheel and start a business of my own. (How supremely Republican, no?) There’s only one reason I don’t: healthcare. Even at $800/month, there’s no way I could get the same level of coverage should I get into an accident, or have something happen to my health. Getting healthcare as an individual with a pre-existing chronic condition such as HIV or diabetes makes starting a business a great deal more risky and less profitable than it already is under normal circumstance.

So while Republicans are screaming about socialism, they ought to look to their attitude on liberty and see if they can’t find some good reasons to support healthcare (insurance) reform, rather than throw a collective childish tantrum. They ought to be mad at themselves for electing that dumbass W who didn’t champion this opportunity to lock in public loyalty for decades when Republicans controlled both Congress and the Presidency. What we got from them was a massive giveaway to seniors to secure the 2004 election - not real, positive long-term fixes to serious long-term problems.